
\30iqS, 




eatres 



AND 




lossoms. 



Clifford ^omrd. 



LIBRARY *0F CONGRESS. 






UMTED STATES OP AMEBICA. 



WASHINGTON 

McGiLL 6. Wall 

ARTISTIC 
PRINTERS. 
BIN DC RS 




Q) 



^)1§§, 



]|ea^ 



catjes 




l0§§0m§. 



Clifford Howard. 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 

1S92. 



Copyright. 
All rights reserved. 






CONTENTS 



A Summer Shower 

Innocence 

A Belated Valentine 

Self 

Hope's Deception 

Music 

Genesis 

The Song of the River 

Easter Morning . 

Simplicity 

The Rose 

The Light Departed 

Geraldine 

A Christmas Paean 

Nature's Alchemy 

Une Chansonnette 

The Christmas Rose 

Love's Nocturne 

The Daisy 

A Reverie 

Under the Mistletoe 

The Candle of Mortality 

Eventide . 

My Boy . 

Epithalamium 

The Dream of Hope 

Halloween 

The Young Orpheus 

Dolly Belle 

Misere 

Charity . 

Cloudlaud 

Nescience 

Delitescent 



Page. 

5 
6 

8 

9 
lo 

12 

15 
i8 

19 
20 

22 

24 
26 
27 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32 
33 
34 
35 
36 
38 
39 
42 
43 
, 44 
46 

47 
48 
50 
51 




g gUMMER gHOWER. 

IDE by side they walk together 

O'er the meadows, fields and heather 

Heeding not the clouds above, 
As the merry birds are singing 
And the distant echoes ringing 
Notes of gladness and of love. 



'^^ifB"^^ O^^ ^^^ ^^P^ ^ question hovers 






She her love with blushes covers, 

As they loiter on the way ; 
Fast his glowing heart is beating. 
Fast the precious time is fleeting, 

Fainter grows the parting day. 

Ere the fateful words are spoken— 
Ere love's silence has been broken,— 

Which would join two hearts in one, 
Downward pours the threatened shower. 
Sprinkling ev'ry blade and flower". 

And o'ercasts the setting sun. 

So the words remain unspoken. 
And love's silence e'er unbroken, 

Leaving two hearts lone and free; 
Thus has fate the potent power 
Through a simple summer shower 

So to change life's destiny. 




Innocence. 

N bonny Scotland o'er the sea, 
Upon a summer's day, 
A little maid trudged merrily 
Along the public way, 

And for the first time in her Hie 
This happy peasant lass 
■ Gazed on the world beyond her home 
In yonder mountain pass. 



With beaming face and merry song 
She tripped on t'ward the town 

And reached the borough turnpike gate 
Before the sun went down. 



She gently tapped upon the bar, 

Afraid to pass it by. 
And waited patientlj^ without 

For some one to reply ; 



And when the good old gatenian came, 

With body lank and lean, 
She asked, " Praj^ will yon tell nie, sir, 

Am I at Aberdeen ? ' ' 

"That's where 5^ou are, my bonny lass, 

He answered with a grin ; 
"Then will you tell me, sir," she said, 

"If Peggy is within?" 









g gELSTEt) VALENTINE. 

HOUGH manj- Avear}- days have flown 
^ Since Cupid, the invidious giver, 
Assailed the heart's enchanted throne 
With arrows from his magic quiver. 
Upon the daj' of love divine 
Held sacred to Saint Valentine, 
When vouthful hearts vow love forever. 



Yet wli3' should tokens of esteem 

Be subject to the day or weather? 
For often fate's m3-sterious scheme 
Allows them not to come together ; 
And so, despite Saint Valentine 
And custom's odd, illusive shrine, 
Mv heart is wafted as a feather 



And faintly taps upon thy door 

As would a bashful, timid lover. 
Afraid to wait, 3'et longing more 
About the charmed spot to hover, 
E'er hoping that thou maj-st divine 
The secret of tliA- valentine 
And thus, a loving truth discover. 




gELF. 

OWEVER good a man nia}- be. 

Or noble, brave or kind ; 
However great his charity 

Or sacrifice designed, 
He acts for self and self alone. 

And not for man or friend ; 
To pleasure gain or pain disown. 

Is but his selfish end. 



yoPE's Deception 

p^^^'OW often hope's delusive art, 
:,vr In bright, aUuring strain, 

Attempts to soothe the aching heart 
And ease its mortal pain 




By pointing to the morning clear 
That follows mournful night, 

As emblematic of the cheer 
That follows sorrow's blight; 

Or singing of the summer's glow 
That follows winter's blast, 

To prov-e that sorrows, like the snow, 
Do not forever last. 



lo 



Ah, would that hope did not deceive 

With promises so fair, 
For then might human hearts believe 

Where now thej' but despair. 



How oft a heart has sought relief 
Within the grave'.s repose, 

Upon whose night of bitter grief 
No morning ever rose ; 



And many that to anguish yield 

No summer ever know. 
For burning tears are but congealed 

In grief's perpetual snow. 




II 







TO 

J. Fred Wolle. 

S music naught but cold, material sound 
Rung forth in euphony to please the ear ? 
15^ li) Or may within its harmonies be found 

The voice that whispers from the unknown sphere 
Of life and immortality, ^ • , ' 

The soul's bright ideality? 
~ Full oft some simple melody or chime. 

As pealing from the organ, grand, sublime, 
- Or stealing from some plaintive voice unknown, 
Or e'en a whisp'ring zephyr quickly flown, 
Enthrills with ecstasy the list'ning mind, 

And like a flitting phantom strangely old 
There comes a vision dim and undefined, 

That fills the soul with longing uncontrolled- 
Some dim-remembered scene or place. 
Some strange, familiar form or face, — 
Entrancing now the soul's enraptured gaze 
With tantalizing memories of days 
Long since departed with the dreamy mist 
That setting sun of yesterday has kissed. 
Is it the mem'ry of these da^'S returned. 

Or is it but the vision of a dream, 
Whose impress on the mind had been unlearned 
Till brightened by the music's quick' ning theme? 



12 



Or may it be transcendent menior}' 
Of preexistent life in faint rehearse, 

As throbs the hidden chord of myster>^ 
That binds the soul with all the universe 
And pulses with the life divine 
Beyond the spirit's mortal shrine, 
Whene'er departing melodies of earth 
In sombre symphony or mellow mirth 
But touch in unison the vital note 
Uniting distant worlds howe'er remote ? 

For e'en the soul that ne'er before gave sign 
Of life or love, but slumbered on unknown, 

Awakes one day within the thrall divine 
Of some electric, sympathetic tone. 
That fills the latent soul with life 
To glow with wild, ecstatic strife, 
As does the touch of nature's breath unfold 
The hidden bud, though seeming dead and cold. 
And brings to light in mystery combined 
A life and beauty none had e'er divined. 




i^ 




(Jenesis. 

ACH one was perched upon a box 

And slowly swung his leg, 
While trying to solve the riddle of 

The chicken and the 'egg. 
They reasoned and they argued it, 

But neither one could say 
Which was the first, the egg or chick, 
Upon creation day. 
"Because," said one, "without a hen 

An egg there can not be ; " 
"But," t'other said, "it takes an egg 

To make a hen, you see," 
In vain they tried to reason it, 

In vain they tried to guess. 
Until another sitting by 

In quiet thoughtfulness. 
Said with innocent assurance. 

While whittling on a peg, 
"I '11 tell you fellows how it was: 
I guess God laid the egg." 




T^BE gONG OF THE !^IVER. 

^^ S I stand b}^ the stream in its murmuring flow 

r — I And watch the stray beams of the moon as they glow 

Jl And they glimmer and shimmer in ghostly arra}^ 
On the turbulent water e'er rolling awaj^ 
While the night's palling breath, with its funeral moan 
In the dole of a soul that is dying alone, • 
Chills my breast with a shud'ring, ineffable fear, 
There comes a strange sound, a strange voice, to mine ear. 
'Tis the voice of the river that calls to me there, 
Knthrilling and filling my heart with despair ; 
Oh, the river is thralling and calling me near 
With its music so dismal, so dread and so drear, ♦ 

And this is the song that it murmurs to me 
As it rolls o'er the shoals on its way to the sea : 



15 



"Come, oh, come from the world with its trouble and strife ; 

Cast into oblivion the bubble of life ; 

Float away on my breast to the ocean of sleep. 

To the ocean so peaceful, so great and so deep, 

That none ever wakes to the sorrows of earth, 

But returns to the bliss from which taken by birth. 

Ah! life's but a struggle from cradle to tomb, 

A striving and driving through torment and gloom; 

While man's but a creature of torture and pain, 

Discerning, yet 3'earning for heaven in vain. 

For the joy of a day is the sorrow of 3'ears 

And the one happy smile is a fountain of tears — 

E'er the greater the pleasure, the greater the woe 

That follows the loss of the joy that must go. 

Man is born but to die and the grave is his goal, 

Whate'er his convictions concerning his soul, 

Yet he battles and toils with the world and its hate, 

E'er groping and hoping 'gainst pitiless fate. 

And he labors and strives and he suflfers and fears 

'Mid the care and despair and the burden of years. 

And the meed for his struggles, that end with his breath, 

Is nothing, aye nothing, but infinite death ! 

Then, oh flee from this scene of malevolent gloom ! 

Why staj^ and delay the inex'rable doom ? 

Come, oh come to me now, to my welcome embrace 

And my waters shall smother and cover th}- face 

And banish forever the phantom of life 

With the chains and the pains of a merciless strife!" 

16 



So the river is calling and luring my soul, 
While low like the flow knells the tremulous toll 
Of the funeral bell far away in the lone — 
The knelling and telling of life that has flown. 
Aye, the river calls loudl}^ and madly and clear 
Strange visions are becking and calling me near : 
"Oh, come to me, come to me, come to my breast!" 
' 'Aj-e, come to the river, the giver of rest ! ' ' 
See ! the waters are boiling and toiling to meet — 
To meet me, to greet me and further entreat — 
And the river is welling and swelling its deep 
To grasp me and clasp me forever in sleep, 
While lapping and purling and hurling it sings 
And splashing and dashing it stealthily clings, 
E'er palling, inthralling and calling to me 
While whirling and swirling its way to the sea. 



17 



l^aSTER rvlORNING. 

NRAPTURED wakes the glad, expectant earth 

Beneath the gentle kiss of nature's breath, 
Whose melody proclaims the morning's birth 
To whisper of the joy that follows death ; 
While silently the starlights disappear 
(£) Before the splendor of the coming morn, 

That thrills the world wnth strange, ecstatic fear, 
As unto her a marv'lous life is born. 
For see ! as hurling darkness from the skies, 

The sun appears in fulgency sublime — 
The Resurrection to ensymbolize, — 

While earth and heaven in exultant chime 
Peal forth in grand, antiphonal accord 
Their anthem, " Hallelujah, praise the Lord ! " 




i8 




glMPLICITY. 

ROUND the board in childish stare 
- He watched the guests with thoughtful face 
Bow low their heads, as if in prayer, 
To say their solemn, silent grace ; 
^x\nd folding then his little hands. 

While meekly drooped his curly head, 
He, too, as one who understands. 
Spoke softly to himself and said : 
' ' Now I lay me down to sleep — 
I pray Thee, Lord, my soul to keep." 



19 



The Rose. 




TO 

HIS timid, silent, drooping rose, 

With stinging thorn and nettle, 
Doth tender love for thee enclose 

Within each blushing petal. 
Each tiny leaf's a thought of love, 
For it, like each bright star above 
And ev'ry blossom life hath wrought, 
Is but divine, incarnate thought. 



If thou couldst read the thoughts that dwell 

Embodied in this flower 
And know the love that they would tell 

From beaut}' 's fragrant bower. 
Then wouldst thou learn the love supreme 
-Of one whose ev'ry thought and dream. 
Of one whose ev'ry memory. 
Is brightened by his love for thee. 



20 



Then would thy heart more clearly see, 

In whispered truth revealing, 
My heart-felt, fervid love for thee, 

No longer now concealing ; 
And though the rose may fade and die, 
lyike some sweet maiden's gentle sigh, 
Its soul of love shall live for thee 
Forever to eternity. 

But then, alas, to thee 'tis naught 

Except a fading flower. 
Forgotten like a passing thought 

Within the passing hour. 
Perchance, howe'er, the soul that glows 
Within the bosom of the rose 
Ma}^ kiss thee ere it doth depart 
And find its heaven in thy heart. 




21 



*. 



The Light DEPaRTEti. 

fHE world's merr\^ laugh and the sunbeams clear, 
That ripple the infinite sea. 
Are the echo sad and the shadows drear 

Of a day that has gone from me ; ' 
For then we were four upon life's bright shore, — 
To-night we are only three. 

Fond memories come and memories go 

lyike the dreams of a troubled sleep — 
Ivike the shadows wandering to and fro 

On the sands of the ebbing neap, 
And the forms unreal that silently steal 

Through the gloom of the boundless deep. 

The chilling winds moan 'mid the breakers' roar 

And again through the mist I see 
A life that goes out from the lives on shore 

And hear a voice calling to me, 
While slowly the light fades into the night 

Far out o'er the infinite sea. 



22 



And never again will the light return — 

The light of a life that has flown, — 
Though the heart may call and the spirit yearn 

For the soul that drifted alone 
To the endless rest on the silent breast 

Of the dark and the cold unknown. 

While the lips may smile and the cheeks may glow, 

As if the sad heart were free, 
The joys of the days of the long ago 

Will never come back to me ; 
For then we were four upon life's bright shore, — 

To-night we are only three. 



2a 



♦. 



(jERHIatilNE. 

EAR her dainty little feet 
Pat' ring up and down the street, 
Scamp' ring o'er the dusty way, 
Tripping now in happy play, 
Dancing to some childish song, 
Hurrying now in haste along, 
Skipping on the terrace green — 
lyovely little Geraldine. 

Eyes that flash with saucy mirth, 
Shine like little stars on earth ; 
Rosy lips with sparkling pearls. 
Nut-brown hair that seldom curls,. 
Dainty form and winning grace, 
Sweet, aristocratic face ; 
Tout e^isemble, little queen — 
lyovel}' little Geraldine. 



24 



Tiny feet in slippers red, 
Sunbeams smiling on her head, 
As she trips sedately by 
Seeming not to see me nigh, 
Or, in bashful, artful play, 
Looks and laughs and runs away ; 
Sweet coquette with childish mien — 
Lovely little Geraldine. 

And at night when all is still, 
Save the crickets' dream}^ trill, 
Twinkling stars look down and peep 
On a little form asleep, 
Tired out with merry play, 
Floating now in dreams awaj' 
To some distant fairy scene — 
Lovely little Geraldine. 



25 




^/^■'^^'^^^l^^t:^ 






ARK ! the chimes are reveaHng in rapturous pealing, 
Their melody joyously flinging . 
And the heavens instilling with music enthrilling, 
As over the world they are ringing, 
That Christmas, bright Christmas, gay Christmas is here 
With the noise and the joys that forever endear 
Its rollicking, frolicking pleasure and cheer. 

With infinite nature rejoicing and singing ; 
While the rhyming and the chiming of the rhythmical ovation 
In exultant peal and tinkle 
With the lights' effulgent twinkle 
Through the snow's demulcent sprinkle 
Seem to mingle and to tingle in ecstatic jubilation ! 
Then let us shout merrily, happily, cheerily — 

- Set the glad echoes to ringing ! 
Away with all sorrow and thoughts of the morrow 

And keep the gay, mellow bells swinging. 
For Christmas, blithe Christmas, glad Christmas is here 
To lighten and brighten the world with its cheer — 
The happiest, jolliest day of the year, — 

Forever true love and good fellowship bringing. 



26 



(^flTURE'S ?|LCHEMY. 



T 



^^HE flowers in divine arra}', 

The wondrous plants of ev'ry source, 
lyive but to die and pass away 




'~^C\y^ And leave to earth that mystic force 
Wherein new kindred forms take birth 

Enfolding that w^hich *is to be ; 
Thus nature glorifies the earth 

Through her transcendent alchem5\ 



27 




UnE (?BaN50NNETTE. 

SAW two silv'ry clouds, love, 
Come sailing oije by one, . 
As spirits soft that moved aloft 
On t'ward the setting sun. 
Methought in fancy's dream, love, 

That they were you and I 
Thus gliding on to love-land 
Beyond the blushing sk}-. 



Then floating side b}- side, love, 

And lingering on the way 
To greet the star that from afar 

Stole forth to seal the day, 
Still closer e'er they drew, love, 

Until the day was done. 
When fading into love-land 

The two were only one. 



28 




The (fHRisTMas I^ose. 

HEN birds and butterflies have fled 
i\nd leaves and flowers all are dead 
And meadows sleep beneath the snow 
And babbling brooks no longer flow, 
Then conies the dainty Christmas rose. 



I^oved child of nature's tender care, 
Fond, fragile, fragrant, frail and fair. 
Enraptured wakes to smile and die 
Beneath the winter's crviel sk}- — 

So blooms the lovely Christmas rose. 

The incarnation of a breath, 
Sweet life communing with its death. 
The timid kiss that winter stole 
From blushing summer's fleeting soul — 
This is the gentle Christmas rose. 



29 



LOVE'5 IHOCTURNE. 

ID the shadows softly falling 
Come the elfs of dreamland calling, 
"Good night, good night," — 
Comes the tinkle, tinkle, tinkle 

Of the distant, frosty bells 
Faintly ringing, slowly swinging 
As their melody impels, 
' ' Good night, my love, good night ; 
All sorrows now take flight ; 
Then gently sleep in slumbers deep — 
Good night, my love, good night." 

Fairy melodies are stealing. 
Gently, faintly, softly pealing, 

"Good night, good night," 
While the tiny, tuneful tapping 

Of the snow flakes on the pane 
Speeds the napping wuth their rapping 
To the lullaby refrain — 

"Good night, my love, good night; 
Until the morning light 
Shall wake thy soul from dreamland's troll, 
Good night, mj^ love, good night." 



30 




The Daisy. 

LONE b}' a meadow a little white flower 
Awakes from its sleep to peep forth from its bower ; 
'Tis only a dais}^ which nature has told 
To harbor the secret its death will unfold. 



Beside the bright meadow a sad little maiden — 
Sweet Gretchen — is passing, her heart heavy laden ; 
She spies the lone daisy and forward she springs 
And plucking its petals she eagerly sings : 

" Er liebt mich, ganz innig, von Herzen, mit Schmerzen, 
Klein wenig, und gar nicht ; er liebt mich,- von Herzen!" 
Dear Gretchen rejoices, her sorrows depart, 
For the soul of the daisy now blooms in her heart. 



31 



♦. 




^ I^EVERIE. 

ORROWS come and sorrows go 
Like the bleak, benumbing ,sriow 
Falling thick and falling fast 
'Mid the winter's chilling blast, 
Seemingly as if to last 

Forever and forev'er. 



But beneath cold sorrow's strife 
lyie the germs of hope and life, 
That on winter's tears are fed, 
And when sorrows' snows have fled 
Springs the living from the dead — 
Forever, thus forever. 



32 




UNt)ER THE rvjISTLETOE. 

-NDER the mistletoe nestled above, 
Under the mystical bower of love — 

The refuge of Cupid, so cunningly stupid, — 
She blushingly pauses to trifle with fate, 
l^y^^y To linger a moment in fanciful bliss, 

Then seeks to escape, but too late, ah, too late, 

Love's treacherous portals are closed with a kiss- 
Under the mistletoe, white-berry mistletoe. 
Under the mistletoe, light, merry hearts aglow, 

Under the mystical bower of love. 



33 



♦. 



The (JaNiDLE of JyioRrnhnv. 




Tire"^ 



AINTLY now, then brightly shining, 

So it burns itself away , 
lyife and death in one combining 

To produce the vital ray : 
For while living it is dying 

And in dying 't lives and glows ; 
■ '^^^ Thus is death its life supplying, 
Thus does life its death impose. 
Without both there can not be 
Aught but dull nonentitv. 



34 




5VENTlt)E 



^r^EPARTING sun has kissed the earth good night 
11 And slowly fades the blush upon her face, 
As one by one with pale and timid light 
The silent stars peep forth from unknown space 
To blossom in the meadows of the sky, 

While o'er the world a dreamy stillness falls. 
As nature in her subtle lullaby 

All life in peaceful drowsiness enthralls. 
Now fades the ling'ring twilight of the sun 
And stealthy shadows softly now transurae 
The varied forms and colors into one 

And hush the whisp'ring melodies in gloom ; 
Till over all there comes a silence deep 
And gently falls the tranquil earth to sleep. 



35 



rv^Y gOY. 

BIVE, oh, give me back my child ! oh, give me back my boy ! 
That I might see his face again or but the thought enjoy 
That he still lives and feels the love that binds him to this earth — 
The greatest of all love sublime, the love that gave him birth ! 

It can not be, it can not be, that he is dead and gone. 
When softly beamed the rosy light of manhood's happy dawn ; 
When life was but awak'ning to the joys and pleasures here, 
With love and hope the morning star to guide his life's career ! 

Life of my life, soul of nn^ soul, lie was my light, my joy, 
My pride, my love, ni\' life, my all, my own, my darling boy ! 
Ah, vengeful fate ! oh, monstrous death, to choose so rare. a gem — 
To pluck the fairest bud on earth and leave some withered stem ! 

Oh, tell me not in cheerful voice that all is for the best, 

That it is better he should be forever now at rest. 

That none should murmur 'gainst the will, the will of Him above, 

Who thus in myst'r}^ manifests his never-ending love. 



36 



'Tis well for them who so believe — they know not what is grief; 
No light has gone from out their lives to dim their cold belief; 
But oh, what niock'r}^ 'tis to think, that to a mother's heart 
Such words can consolation bring or comfort e'er impart! 

A mother's heart, a mother's lov'e can know no reason why 

Her loved, her own, her precious child should thus be doomed to die. 

It must not be, it can not be !" oh, world bereft of joy ! 

Then give, oh, give me back my child ! oh, give me back my boy ! 




37 



^PITBaLflMIUM. 

WAS naught but a word — a lone whispered word, — 
Which only one heart in the universe heard ; 
But it fastened the link, which naught can dissever, 
Enclasping two souls in a union forever. 




38 



The Dhe^m of yoPE. 




NCE upon a winter's night, 
As I sat by firelight 

Faintly napping, sadly musing 
On the scenes of bygone days 
Flitting by my dreamy gaze 

One by one without my choosing, 



And while gloomih' I dozed 
As I dreamily reposed 

'Fore the embers slowly falling, 
Suddenly I seemed to hear 
Through the midnight still and drear 

Some one strangel)^ softly calling. 

'Round I looked with startled stare — 
No one, nothing anywhere. 

Save the darkness cold and palling ; 
But from out the dismal gloom 
Came a voice as from the tomb 

Sweetly, gently, faintly calling ; 



39 



Came a voice that filled nTy soul, 
Thrilled my heart beyond control 

With its melod}^ alluring ; 
Came a voice that sang of jo}^ 
Peace and bliss without alloy — 

Perfect happiness inuring. 

Moved as by some mystic might; 
Groped I through the darksome night 

T'ward this voice my soul enthralling; 
But though seeming alwaj's near, 
Ever from the distance blear 

Came the magic music calling. 

Out amid the howling blast. 

Through the cheerless streets I pass'd, 

Lured by wondrous strains impelling 
Me to follow and to hope, 
Though for ages I should grope 

Through a grief be3-ond dispelling. 

'Mid the winter's chilling blight, 
'Mid the horrors of a night 

Whose existence seemed eternal, 
Onward, onward without rest 
E'er unceasingly I press' d 

With an energy infernal ! 

40 



While the wails of spirits sad 
And the yells of demons mad 

In the tempest wildly driving, 
Seemed to pity and to mourn 
And to ridicule and scorn 

My indomitable striving. 

Following through valleys dark, 
Mountains bleak and forests stark — 

So fantastically drear ful, — 
Groped my fascinated life 
O'er the earth in frenzied strife. 

With its woes and terrors fearful, 

Till amid the awful gloom 
Of this everlasting tomb 

Came I to the ocean palling, 
Where above its savage roar 
Rose the voice as e'er before. 

Full distinctly, gently calling. 

Then amid o'erwhelming fears 
Came the voice in mocking jeers, 

Like some horrible deduction ; 
And the music died away 
lycaving me in wild dismay 

On the brink of death's destruction. 



41 




ySLLOWEBN. 

0-NIGHT of all the nights throughout the year 

Portends for thee thy future weal or woe ; 
To-night the oracles of fate draw near 

To furnish to us mortals here below 
One fleeting glimpse of that which is to be — 

One glimpse behind to-morrow's sacred veil, — 
If we but read aright the signs we see 

And heed with care the witches' mirrored tale. 
Then watch full well the embers' glowing mass, 

List 'mid the churchyard's gloom for some fond name, 
Note well the face that greets thee in the glass 

And shrink not from the candle's magic fl'ame, 
And niayst thou read or hear or see or know 
Naught but some future weal and naught of woe. 



42 



The youNG Orpheus. 

TO 

Theo Alice Ruggles. 

HEN in the twilight of the fading day 

Sweet Orpheus entranced the blushing earth 
And held enrapt her creatures 'neath his sw^ay 
) With tristful symphon}- and tuneful mirth 
And lulled the sea in mystic euphony', 

There fell unheeded 'mid the list'ning throng 
A melodj- of thought in whispered song — 
A wayward offspring of the poet's soul, — 
That on a passing zephyr faintly stole 
Away, and wand' ring far 'twixt earth and star, 
This scintillating spirit of a thought 

For countless ages breathed in nature's dream 
Beyond the touch of minds that vainly sought 

The inspiration of its magic theme ; 
Until, as murm'ring mist it softl}- kiss'd 
The list'ning soul of one whose mind 
Conceived in harmony the thought enshrined 
And gave incarnate to the world of art 
The wondrous music of a poet's heart. 




43 







Dolly gsLLE. 

OWN the lane beside the meadow 

Where the holle3^suckle grows 
With the daisies and the clover 

And the lovely briar-rose, 
While the violets are sleeping 

'Neath the shadow of the dell. 
Lived a little blue-eyed maiden 

Known to me as Dolly Belle. 



Oft I met her lightly tripping, 
• Tripping e'er in merry chase, 
While " the sunbeams through her tresses 

Kissed her rosy, dimpled face, 
And the posies of the meadow 

Where her flitting footsteps fell 
Nodded nods of nodding welcome . 

To their loving Dolly Belle. 

And she took me to her garden, 

To her garden down the lane, 
Where the cheery little songsters 

In a chirruping refrain 
And the flowers b}- their blushes 

Loving secrets try to tell 
To their charming, dainty mistress, 

Lovely little Dolly Belle. 



44 



There she sang to them in carols, 

Caroling so sweet and clear, 
That the gentle breath of heaven 

Hushed its melody to hear. 
Life was all a mellow summer. 

All the world a quiet dell. 
To this airy, fairy maiden, 

Joyful, blithesome Dolly Belle. 



"Come," I said, "and let us wander, 

•Wander far and far away, 
Where the roses never wither 

And the robins always stay" — 
For I loved this little maiden 

More than any words, can tell, — 
But the jealous soul of nature 

Claimed my darling Dolly Belle. 



Oft I wander o'er the meadow 

As the daylight fades away, 
As the sunbeams faintly tremble 

On the edge of parting day, 
And I wander by the garden 

Where the birds and flowers dwell 
Kver longing, ever waiting 

For their angel Dolly Belle. 

45 



rvJlSERE. 



A THANKSGIVING ELEGY. 



^ HE wandered in silence, she wandered alone 
^ B\- the side of the darksome 



river. 



/ /j^^^)^ And the lights from the town as they glimmered and shone 
^/-^ Told of pleasure departed forever — 
^dy^/ Forever, forever — 

i q)"^::^^ Of hope that had parted forever. 

Did she thank for the trouble, the struggle, the woe, 

That made up her burden of living ? 
Ah, whom did she thank and for what did she thank 
-On the eve of this merry Thanksgiving? 
Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving — 
Oh, iron}^ cruel — Thanksgiving ! 

She spurned her dead life for the peace, for the sleep 

That beckoned to her from the river, 
And the cold breath of night kissed her tomb in the deep 

As it whispered of silence forever — 
Forever, forever — 

Of freedom from sorrow forever. 



46 



f 



(Jhsrity. 

IS eye was dim and his body bent 
With the burden of man}^ years ; 

His clothes were odd and shabby and rent 
And the object of mirth and jeers. 



My heart went out to this good old man, 

Decrepit, forlorn and dismaj^ed, 
With comfort ending where age began. 

And I stopped to offer him aid. 

"A pleasant day," quoth I, with a nod; 

But his mind seemed wand' ring away. 
I heeded not his behavior odd, 

But repeated, "A pleasant day." 

He looked at me with a mournful stare, 
Yet answered me never a word. 

Methought he was deaf and unaware 
Of the music that others heard. 

I smiled and bowed and pointed o'erhead 
And shouted, "A pleasant day!" 

"Well, who said it wasn't?" is all he said, 
As he turned and trotted awav. 



47 



I 



• (jLOUDLSCsft). 

'M standing by the gate, dear, 

Where once we stood before 
And listened to the rippling song 

Of wavelets on the shore 
And watched the gath'ring clouds, dear. 

That o'er the mountain stole,- 
And read above on wings of love 

The fortunes of our soul. 



For then our hearts were one, dear. 

Bound with a single thought — 
To live and love and love and live 

As onl)' love had taught ; 
And so within the sky, dear. 

In cloudland far away, 
'Mid rosy beams we dreamed the dreams 

Of love's long summer da}-. 

We saw the snowy peaks, dear. 

Of air}' mountains high. 
With fair\- streams and cataracts. 

That sparkled in the sky ; 
And b}- the emerald seas, dear, 

We saw the castles bright, 
Whose towers bold seemed made of gold 

Amid the fading light. 

48 



Then saw we gardens fair, dear, 

Where countless flowers grew, 
While silv'ry streams seemed murmuring 

Through fields of golden hue ; 
And music seemed to fall, dear. 

In gentle, mellow spray. 
As tinkling bells o'er fair}- fells 

In cloudland "far away. 

I see the clouds again, dear, 

Kiss'd by the parting day, 
But like the hopes and joys of life 

They pass and melt away ; 
The mountains fade in mist, dear. 

The crumbling castles fall. 
While oceans grand and fairyland 

Fast fade be^'ond recall. 

And so they pass away, dear. 

The dreams of life and lov^e. 
That for a moment hid from view 

The endless night above ; 
And thus they are absorbed, dear, 

Within the boundless sea. 
Where life and thought and love are naught 

E'en to eternity. 

49 



>-^^^ 




(Nescience. 

I AM waiting, I am waiting b}' the riverside alone 

For the voice of one whose spirit like a dulcet breath has 
flown ; 
I am waiting, I am waiting by her lonely sepnlcher, 
^ Where the music of the forest breathes the requiem for her, 
Where the waters of the river whisper ever frdm the deep 
Of the infinite, perennial, impenetrable sleep, 
While the antiphon of heaven knells the dirge of parted 

breath 
And the stars in awful silence tell of everlasting death ; 
Still I'm waiting, oh, I'm waiting for a message from her soul 
'Mid the music of the waters in their wierd, eternal dole. 



I am -waiting, I am waiting by the dark, sepulchral stream 

In the fearful fascination of a melancholy dream, 

As I yearn and ever hearken in a ponderable fear, 

'Mid the purling of the river so mellifluously drear, 

For a token from my loved one that the love of parted souls 

Holds communion with the living and their destiny controls ; 

But the gurgle of the current in its dolorific flow 

Is the only sound that answers through the darkness cold and low. 

While I'm waiting, sadly dreaming, 'neath the stars' somnific stare. 

By the tomb of my beloved in the anguish of despair. 



50 



Delitescent. 

\ - /HE laughing brook, whose ripples gk 
I In music through the field, 
Enfolds within its gentle stream 
Dark myst'ries unrevealed. 

The tender flower, pure and fair — 

A kiss of nature born, 
Conceals beneath its blushes rare 

The unknown deadly thorn. 

The happ}' smile, the cheerful word 

Are but the sparkling spray 
O'er tears unseen and grief unheard 

As flows life's stream awav. 



The rosy cheeks, the sunny days 
Are but the blushes light 

Concealing from the worldly gaze 
The stinging thorn of night. 




£;i 



igi^t 



